Battle of Ben Guerdane

The Battle of Ben Guerdane (7 March 2016) was a clash that took place between the Tunisian Army and infiltrating Islamic State militants in the Tunisian border town of Ben Guerdane (also spelled "Ben Gardane"). President Beji Caid el-Sebsi declared that Tunisia was at war with the Islamic State in the aftermath of the attack, which left 33 militants, 10 soldiers, and 7 civilians dead.

Prelude
Ben Guerdane was located on the border of Tunisia and Libya, and it was called "the Gateway to Libya" by Tunisia. The Islamic State, which had been fighting in the Second Libyan Civil War just across the border from Tunisia (which was home to 3,000 foreign fighters with the Islamic State terrorist group in Syria and Iraq), had previously attacked the Bardo National Museum, the Sousse beach resort, and a bus carrying Tunisian presidential guard soldiers, but they had not yet attempted to bring the civil war to Tunisia itself.

Battle
On 7 March 2016, the Islamic State launched an unprecedented cross-border attack in Tunisia at Ben Guerdane, and the Tunisian Army was deployed to combat their forces. The military and militants engaged in a large shootout, with explosive shells, RPG grenades, boxes of bullets, and suicide vests being found in the hands of killed Islamic State fighters. Large quantities of weapons and ammunition were found with the Islamic State after they were pushed back, at which point 33 militants had been killed, with the government losing 10 soldiers and 7 civilians. The battle for Ben Guerdane led to President Beji Caid Essebsi declaring that the country was now at war, and the Second Libyan Civil War drew Tunisia into the conflict.